Bittensor (TAO) tokenomics

The token economics of Bittensor, centered around its native token TAO, is designed to incentivize the production and validation of machine intelligence within a decentralized network of specialized markets called subnets. The system employs a Bitcoin-like halving mechanism for issuance and a stake-weighted consensus model for allocation.

Issuance Mechanism

The TAO token supply is capped at 21 million tokens, following a programmatic emission schedule similar to Bitcoin's.

• Current Emission Rate: New TAO tokens are created at a fixed rate of 1 TAO per block. Since a block is created approximately every 12 seconds, this results in a daily issuance of 7,200 TAO.
• Halving Cycle: The issuance rate is subject to a halving cycle. Unlike Bitcoin, which halves based on a fixed number of blocks, TAO halves based on the total token supply issued. A halving occurs once 50% of the remaining supply to be mined has been issued.
• First Halving: The first halving will decrease the daily issuance rate from 7,200 TAO to 3,600 TAO per day. The planned halving date is projected to be in September 2025, based on token recycle data.
• Recycling Feature: Bittensor features a unique token recycling mechanism. Fees collected from network actions (like transaction fees or registration fees) are "recycled" back into the unissued supply, effectively postponing the halving date. This mechanism removes tokens from the circulating supply and makes them available for new emissions.

Allocation Mechanism

TAO emissions are distributed through a two-tiered system: first at the Root Network level (SN 0) to determine subnet funding, and then within each subnet to reward participants (miners, validators, and owners).

1. Root Network (SN 0) Allocation

The Root Network (SN 0) acts as the meta subnet, responsible for determining the proportion of TAO emissions distributed to individual subnets.

• Decision Makers: The top 64 subnet validators by stake across all subnets participate in a voting process to manually assign a percentage of the total network emissions to each subnet.
• Stake-Weighted Consensus: The final consensus percentages are determined through the Yuma Consensus (YC) mechanism, which weighs the preferences of validators in proportion to the amount of TAO they have staked. This mechanism ensures that capital is directed toward subnets deemed most valuable by the network's largest stakeholders.

2. Subnet Distribution

Once emissions are allocated to a specific subnet, the tokens are distributed among the subnet participants according to the following fixed percentages:

Validator and Delegator Breakdown

The 41% allocated to Subnet Validators is further distributed between the validators and their delegators:

• Delegators: Receive 82% of the validator's emissions share.
• Validators: Retain 18% of the validator's emissions share.

Validators also set a commission rate (take rate) between 0.00% and 18.00% on the rewards owed to delegators.

Usage and Incentive Mechanism

TAO is a utility token designed to incentivize the production of machine intelligence and secure the network. The token model resembles a work token model, where staking TAO grants the right to perform work and earn rewards.

Primary Uses of TAO:

• Incentivization: TAO rewards miners for contributing intelligence (hardware, novel neural networks) and validators for ensuring consensus rules are followed and evaluating miner performance.
• Access and Priority: Validators must stake TAO to access the network's intelligence and develop revenue-generating applications and APIs. Validators with larger stakes receive priority from miners in having their requests serviced.
• Subnet Creation Fee: Users must pay a minimum fee of 100 TAO to create a new subnet, though this cost can increase based on network demand.
• Governance: TAO acts as a governance token, allowing participants to vote on proposals and future network changes.

Incentive Mechanisms:

• Yuma Consensus (YC): This stake-weighted consensus system determines the consensus weight matrix used to distribute rewards for miners. Validators rank miners based on performance, and the YC mechanism translates these rankings into incentives. Higher-ranked miners receive more substantial rewards.
• Competition and Quality: The incentive system is designed as a continuous "flywheel" where miners attempt to maximize rewards, inadvertently exposing weaknesses in the subnet's incentive system. Subnet owners then patch these exploits and update the system, driving iterative improvement in the quality of the digital commodity produced.

Locking Mechanism

The primary locking mechanism in Bittensor is staking and delegation, which is required for participation in the network's core functions.

• Validator Staking: Validators must stake TAO to participate in the Root Network (SN 0) and influence the allocation of emissions to subnets. As of December 16, 2024, approximately 5.97 million TAO (about 80.95% of the total token supply) was staked across all validators.
• Delegation: TAO holders can delegate their tokens to subnet validators, earning a share of the dividends generated by the validator (minus the validator's commission).
• Registration Fees: Miners and validators must pay a variable registration fee in TAO to secure limited slots on subnets. This fee is recycled back into the unissued supply.

Unlocking Time (Future Emissions)

Bittensor's token unlocks are continuous emissions distributed to miners and validators as rewards for securing the network and producing intelligence. These are not traditional vesting unlocks but rather the daily inflation of the token supply.

The following table details the next ten daily emission events, which are allocated to TAO Miners and Validators as part of the Community/Incentives group.

Note: The daily unlocked amount of 3,601 TAO suggests that the network is currently operating at the post-halving emission rate, or that the data reflects the projected rate after the next halving event.